[ale] Low voltage work in GA

Michael Trausch mike at trausch.us
Tue Jul 31 19:25:41 EDT 2012


There is another TLA I am missing which describes the lightweight non
threaded conduit. It, unlike the other stuff, is not considered,"rigid",
despite seeming quite rigid to me...
On Jul 31, 2012 4:04 PM, "Michael H. Warfield" <mhw at wittsend.com> wrote:

> On Tue, 2012-07-31 at 14:36 -0400, mike at trausch.us wrote:
> > On 07/31/2012 02:15 PM, Greg Clifton wrote:
> > > A related question occurs to me. I would assume that the grey
> > > (PVC?) electrical conduit would not be allowed for plenum installation,
> > > rather you would have to use the thin walled metal, no? Otherwise,
> > > wouldn't  putting PVC cable in PVC conduit defeat the purpose of using
> > > conduit so as not to get gassed by the Chlorine content of the PVC when
> > > the fire starts?
>
> > I am pretty sure that insofar as conduit is concerned, you must use
> > either EMT or rigid conduit in commercial installations, and rigid
> > conduit is typically required for things that run voltage greater than
> > that which is used for communications and data lines.
>
> Huh?  EMT is "Electrical Metal Tubing" - AKA rigid conduit.  Basically
> the thin-walled tubing you use with a varied of connectors into boxes
> and what not.  The 1/2", 3/4", and 1" thin walled pipe you get in the
> electrical department of Home Depot and Lowes.  It's perfectly fine for
> 110VAC/220VAC and even some 208 3-phase.  If you get much above 1" EMT
> (lots of wires or large gauge / high current) or your dealing with
> higher voltages (I've dealt with 440 3-phase commercial stuff in the
> past - not fun) then you're going to be using the heavy gauge pipe that
> screws into screw fittings or uses locking bushings directly on the
> threaded pipe and you could almost use as pressurized water pipe.
> That's what you use for service entrance masts and wires that are rated
> in mcm cross section rather than gauge.
>
> What are you referring to when you are referring to EMT?  They use EMT
> for 110VAC branch wiring in commercial all the time unless things have
> radically changed since I worked as an electrician.  When you say "and
> rigid conduit is typically required for things that run voltage greater
> than that which is used for communications and data lines" that seems to
> imply you can't use EMT for that and that doesn't make sense to me, the
> way you phrased it.
>
> You can also run 110/220 through flexible metal conduit as well, though
> those are normally limited to hookup runs to equipment like HVAC gear.
>
> Regards,
> Mike
>
> > In a house, you can get away with PVC or plastic conduit.  Code is much
> > more strict with regard to commercial buildings.  Also, the conduit must
> > be grounded.
> >
> > There are some exceptions for raceways, but I don't intend on using such
> > things.  Personally, I am a fan of putting things in a way or using a
> > metal conduit that will more-or-less blend in once painted.
> >
> >       --- Mike
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ale mailing list
> > Ale at ale.org
> > http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> > See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> > http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>
> --
> Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | (770) 985-6132 |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
>    /\/\|=mhw=|\/\/          | (678) 463-0932 |
> http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/
>    NIC whois: MHW9          | An optimist believes we live in the best of
> all
>  PGP Key: 0x674627FF        | possible worlds.  A pessimist is sure of it!
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.ale.org/pipermail/ale/attachments/20120731/fa18f9f9/attachment-0001.html 


More information about the Ale mailing list